JeffChip and Apples
by iepidemic
Summary: Jeff and Chip must deal with the thoughts lingering in their mind, but what if it ruins their friendship? WARNING: Does contain slash implications. Don't like? Don't read.
1. Chapter 1

**Jeff/Chip and Apples. (Part 1)**

"You remind me of an apple," Chip muses thoughtfully. Jeff let slip a laugh. "An apple? Because I'm juicy and delicious?"

"Maybe…" he responds vaguely. "But like, a Granny Smith apple." Jeff raises his eyebrows and responds, "Sour and undesired?" Chip smiled at how much that contradicted what was going through his mind at the moment. "I was gonna say that you're smooth on the outside and have a tangy but loveable personality, like the inside of a Granny Smith."

Jeff tilted his head to the side then nodded in understanding. "I guess that makes sense." He hopped up from the balcony chair and turned to go back inside his hotel room. "I'm gonna get another beer, want one?" Chip shook his head and as he left, couldn't help but sneak a glance at his ass.

He quickly forced himself away and dropped his head in his hands. It was that one stupid, drunken kiss that had been fucking with his thinking lately. He was married for God's sake! It was meaningless. Right? Nothing. "It's nothing…" Chip muttered to himself again.

"What's nothing?" Jeff asked, sitting back down next to him. "Nothing!" he snapped hastily, surprising Jeff. "Alright man, chill. Maybe you do need another beer, damn."

Chip sighed in frustration. "Sorry. Just in a weird mood." He secretly hoped he would inquire further, but no such luck. Jeff just opened up his drink and drained half of it. Little did Chip know that Jeff was dying to find out what seemed to burden his best friend. He hated to see him like this, and in the back of his mind, he thought that this was his fault because he practically shoved his tongue down Chip's throat. An awkward silence surrounded them now… when was the last time that happened?

Jeff finally broke it. "They should put a warning label on drinks," he says, turning to Chip. Caught off guard, he tries to say something, but became tongue-tied. He was good at doing that. "They already sorta do," he finally manages. Jeff set down the bottle and went on explaining. "I mean, a crazy night of drinking can really change shit. A lot. Even the way that you think."

A lump immediately rose in Chip's throat because he knew where this was headed. He tried to play it off by laughing, but the look on Jeff's face showed that he must have physically tensed up. Jeff wondered if this was the right time to try and bring up such a big subject, but the thoughts swirling around in his brain were eating at him inside, and he had to know.

"Remember three nights ago when we were at a bar in Boston?" Jeff went on carefully. Of course he did; he remembered every aspect about that night. Jeff was wearing a black suit and bright red tie. Chip even knew that his socks were red and black stripes.

"Uh, sort of," he lied. "Why?" Jeff stared right at him, and Chip's heart raced. "What do you think would happen if—" He's interrupted by a pounding on the door. He groans and answers it as Chip mentally kicks himself for not dealing with something that had been on his mind 24/7.

Jeff stuck his head back outside. "Sound check, we gotta leave." Chip stands up and they close the door, going toward the lobby.

"I need something from my room real quick, I'll just meet you there," Chip says to Jeff, who shrugs in reply.

Finally, everyone finishes sound check, and Jeff heads back to his room to get his ID, which he would need later if he was going to party. He got to the door and bent down to pick up something that was sitting on the ground right in front of it. He smiled instantly as he stood back up with the mystery object.

A Granny Smith apple with the words "Talk later?" scribbled on it in marker.


	2. Chapter 2

**JeffChip and Apples Part 2.**

Jeff lay down on his bed, tossing the apple Chip left him last night up in the air and catching it. He got up and stuck it in the fridge, not having the heart to throw it away just yet. Flopping face down on the mattress, he moaned into the pillow. What was he going to do? Jeff flipped on his side and came face to face with the two pictures that he always brought with him when he traveled. One of his niece, Maddox, and the other was of him and Chip.

His Blackberry buzzes, snapping him out of the daze he was in. It was Chip calling him. "Of course," he sighed quietly; however he still wanted to talk with the guy whose feelings he potentially had fucked with.

"Hey, what's happening?" Jeff says flawlessly, hiding any sign of anxiety in his voice. "Do you wanna get a coffee?" Chip didn't trip over his words, but he had known him for so long that he could pick up on the tremble at the end of his date-like request. "Sure," he replied. "Meet you downstairs in 10," Chip finishes before hanging up abruptly,

Throwing his phone down, he looked in the mirror and fixed his hair. After messing with it for a second, he stopped in disbelief. He cared what he looked like around him! "Oh my Goooooddd," he groans, annoyed with himself.

Chip was waiting down at the little coffee shop that was in the hotel. He was clueless as to what he was going to say or even how he truly felt. As Jeff approached, mixed emotions flooded through his veins, fueled by the booze and what was probably a lethal amount of caffeine.

"Hi." Jeff sat down across from him, eyes solely concentrated on the cuffs of his shirt. Chip took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "I don't know about anything with us anymore." Jeff tread carefully onward. "Well… neither do I. We could—"

"I just need some space."

He almost couldn't believe his ears. Chip sounded as if he was breaking up with him, and in a way it felt like it. Jeff's heart sank like a rock at the mere thought of forgetting about someone like Chip even for just a little while; he was always on his mind and always there for him no matter what. How could he just leave him like this? The hurt he felt soon turned to rage and Jeff started seeing red.

"What the hell do you mean, Chip? Do you honestly expect to figure this shit out yourself?" he growled.

Chip's eyes narrowed and his Adam's Apple bobbed in his throat. "I'm gonna spend time with my wife, if that's okay with you, Jeffery."

"You're so full of bullshit! You're gonna sit alone and wonder why you ignored whatever the fuck this is."

"Jeff."

"I fucking know you! You can't even handle losing me as a friend because I'm the closest one you got. And now you're fucking afraid of me?"

"Jeff, quit." Chip clenches his fists and starts shaking.

"I'm not some fucking faggot and I'm not interested in you," Jeff rumbles, knowing that that last part was probably a lie.

Unable to control himself any longer, Chip clocks him squarely in the face. He stares at Jeff, now sitting on the ground in pure shock, rubbing a hand over his nose and spotting blood. Chip takes one last glance at the man who'd fucked with his emotions and pushed him too damn far with that ego, then storms out of the hotel. He was still seething with rage and adrenaline, amazed that he even had the ability to punch his best friend in the face.

Jeff slowly sets his chair back up. He can only bury his bleeding face into his hands and wonder what the hell he had done.


	3. Chapter 3

**JeffChip and Apples Part 3.**

_This is it! The last part to the Apples series. I'm actually pretty happy with it and I hope you guys are too. I know that this was a really tame Jeff/Chip pairing… but I could always write another ;D I'm kinda just that shameless._

Chip shoved the lobby door open, nearly hitting a man on the way out, and took a left down the main street. The fucking nerve of Jeff, saying that he needed him. _You do though,_ his thoughts insisted, but he pushed them away in anger. Chip passes a produce stand and the sight of green apples, what would now constantly remind him of Jeff, both infuriates and crushes him inside.

Meanwhile, Jeff trudges into the closest restroom and examines his face in the stained mirror. Damn, he really got him. Luckily it looked like he was fine; the bleeding had stopped and nothing seemed broken. The only thing that was bothering him was his conscience, something that he rarely heard was now screaming at him full blast.

"I need to do something," Jeff decided, speeding out of the bathroom and practically running outside. He could only wander aimlessly, keeping eyes peeled for Mr. Chip Esten. Where would Chip go if he needed to cool off? An answer springs to his mind and Jeff jogs off to the place he knew he'd be.

The smell of sea water filled Chip's nostrils as he took a deep breath in. He dangled his feet over the edge of the wooden boardwalk and watched boats drift calmly along the water. He's always had a thing for them, which not many people knew. His dad used to take him sailing for a month out of the summer every year, which is why he got so attached.

"Thought I'd find you here," a voice announced from behind him. Chip craned his head around to see Jeff Davis standing there, managing a weak smile. "May I join you?" Chip motioned to the spot next to him and Jeff sat down.

A long silence ensued though both men's thoughts rattled in their brain. They were feeling the same thing, yet neither one wanted to talk about it. But like always, Jeff attempted to take charge and admitted what could change their entire friendship forever. "That one kiss," he chuckled. "That one kiss triggered… shit I never really wanted to deal with." Chip laughed dryly and sneered, "You were right. I can't deal with it. I have a fucking **family**, man. It shouldn't even be a question in my mind."

Jeff cocked an eyebrow at the word "shouldn't", because it implied that it **was** on his mind. He softly voiced the idea he'd had for what felt like the longest time. "How the hell are we gonna know anything if we don't even explore what's there?" Chip let out one small laugh again as he lowered his head, hiding his face. After a moment he looked back up at him and right into those deep brown eyes.

"What am I gonna do, Jeff? I can't trust my love life with you because all you know how to do is be single and get drunk!" Chip shakily exclaims, tears brimming and threatening to spill out. Jeff was hurt by the words, but he knew that he was right. _Wait, did he say __love__?_ Jeff thought, but dropped it for now. Chip's head lowered once more and he viciously rubbed his eyes, hating that he was getting so goddamn emotional. He was startled to feel Jeff's gentle hand bring his face to meet his.

"Then you lead," he murmured. "Whatever you want to do and however you want to take on the situation… but you can't just ignore it." Jeff could hardly stand to look at him like this without a tear as well; Chip's eyes were soulful and red, and he was biting his lower lip, which Jeff found to be adorable, despite the circumstances.

Chip finally opened his mouth to speak and then quickly shut it, merely nodding in reply. He knew that there wasn't going to be any other way around this because that's just how Jeff was… and he loved that. A smile overtook Jeff's face and Chip involuntarily mirrored it. They both turned and sat shoulder to shoulder on the empty pier, and as Chip slowly sneaks his hand underneath Jeff's, they catch sight of a Granny Smith apple floating down the water, serene as can be.


End file.
